AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Indian magical tree11/23/2023 ![]() Next, they visit a small shrine that houses icons of Thimmamma and her husband, to which they offer food such as coconut and spices.īefore approaching the main shrine facing the samadhi, which houses a black stone icon of Thimmamma, pilgrims are blessed by a priest waving a candle flame before them. After walking down a dusty path into the heart of the banyan, they first bow and pray to Nandi, a bull deity who acts a gate-guardian for the samadhi (funerary monument) created as a memorial for Thimmamma and dedicated to Lord Shiva, the god of destruction and rebirth. Pilgrims remove their shoes before entering the vicinity of the sacred tree canopy. The small collection of dusty mountains in which it is nestled provides a small, bowl-like clearing that allows for good drainage and sunlight with plenty of room for the tree to grow. But nevertheless, the tree is still expanding. It has been damaged by cyclones and droughts over the centuries, with large clumps of well-established roots having fallen sideways or broken off completely. ![]() Thimmamma Marrimanu has more than 4,000 roots making up its canopy. The banyan will keep growing and expanding as far as its surroundings permit. These roots then spread underground, depriving all other nearby plants of water and nutrients, using these resources to then thicken into big pillars that look like tree trunks. Considered a “strangler” tree, it begins life as an epiphyte, a plant that grows on the surface of another plant, first by planting seeds in the branches of other trees and then by sprouting vine-like roots that block the host tree of sunlight as they wind down and eventually anchor themselves into the forest floor. Stretching outward in every direction, it looks more like a grove or a forest than a single tree. The banyan ( Ficus benghalensis), also called Indian banyan or banyan fig, is part of the mulberry family and is native to the Indian subcontinent. However, the banyan’s size has become a matter of debate as the local forestry department argues that the tree has actually spread over eight acres due to conservation efforts over the past two years and is 660 years old. They also confirmed more recently that Thimmamma Marrimanu is the largest of them all. Landmark Trees of India, a survey conducted between 20 by Outreach Ecology, measured the canopies of banyan trees across the country and found that India is in fact home to seven of the largest banyan trees in the world. His 1989 discovery about Thimmamma Marrimanu, however, was a success, confirming one of the writer-photographer’s speculations – based on rumours he had heard and a subsequent investigation – that Andhra Pradesh was home to a huge banyan tree. Much of this global recognition was due to the work of Sathyanarayana Iyer, a journalist who humorously changed his name to “Regret Iyer” after receiving many “letters of regret” from publications regarding his story ideas. The banyan tree was first added to the Guinness Book of World Records in 1989 (its entry updated in 2017) as being 550 years old and having the “greatest perimeter length for a tree”, spreading over five acres with a circumference of 846m. The majority of them are Hindu pilgrims journeying to Tirupati, a city that holds one of the world’s wealthiest temples and most frequented sacred sites.įrom Tirupati, pilgrims often tour the state’s southern areas, heading for the town of Puttarpathi, home of the late – and controversial – spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba to a mysterious, gravity-defying stone pillar suspended from the ceiling at Lepakshi Temple and to practice darshan (the beholding of a deity, holy person or sacred object) at the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha temple in the town of Kadiri (pictured).īut one more, somewhat unexpected, place of pilgrimage lies tucked away in the rocky valleys 25km south-east of Kadiri: a natural wonder that holds a Guinness World Records title.įlourishing within one of India’s driest regions is Thimmamma Marrimanu, the world’s largest single tree canopy. However, it’s India’s most most-visited state domestically, with more than 120 million people flocking here annually. Compared to other destinations in India, Andhra Pradesh in the country’s south-east may not rank highly on popular tourist itineraries.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |